The U.K.'s joint nuclear regulators Tuesday said they would delay giving interim acceptance for the two reactor designs being assessed for operation in the U.K., marking the first delay to multi-billion pound plans to build a new fleet of reactors due to the nuclear crisis in Japan.

Areva SA's (CEI.FR) EPR reactor design, for use by Electricite de France SA (EDF.FR), is undergoing the U.K. assessment along with Toshiba Corp. (6502.TO) unit Westinghouse Electric Co.'s AP1000 reactor.

The Health and Safety Executive and the Environment Agency said they won't issue the interim design acceptance confirmation and the interim statements of design acceptability in June as previously planned, so as to take into account a report on the implications of the Japan nuclear crisis for the U.K.

The government has asked U.K. Chief Inspector of Nuclear Installations Mike Weightman to provide an interim report in May and a final report in September on any lessons to be learned from the Japan nuclear crisis.

"As Mike Weightman's interim report is expected in May and his final report in September we will not now draw conclusions from our assessments in June 2011 as planned," the regulatory bodies said in a joint statement. "This will allow us to maximize the benefit of the assessment work we have already done, and also ensure that the generic reactor designs take account of relevant lessons learned from the events in Japan ."

A spokesman from the HSE's Office for Nuclear Regulation said a new date for the design acceptances would depend on what recommendations are made in the report.

In the meantime, the two agencies still intend to publish in the summer the outstanding issues on the reactor designs that need to be addressed and worked on.

The U.K. has one of the most advanced programs in Europe to build a fleet of new nuclear power plants, with utility companies planning 16 gigawatts of new nuclear capacity by 2025. The government has made nuclear a central plank of its energy policy as it strives to keep the lights on, diversify the energy mix and meet climate change targets to cut emissions.

EDF, which is leading the nuclear revival in the U.K. and plans to have its first new reactor in commercial operation in 2018, said it had already factored into its plans ongoing work beyond June 2011.

"The authorities had previously announced that they expected work would continue beyond the issue of interim certificates in June 2011 to close out any outstanding GDA [Generic Design Acceptance] issues identified in the interim certificates. Consequently, we had already factored ongoing work beyond June 2011 into our plans," the French nuclear giant said in a statement.

Westinghouse U.K. Managing Director Mike Tynan said the decision not to conclude the initial assessment as planned in June was the correct one.

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